His Favorite Snoggletog Story
by Foxlight the Dragon Trainer
Summary: (AU, one-shot) "It was the night before Snoggletog. I met her at an island far from here, several years ago. She was wearing the most beautiful blue dress, which matched her beautiful blue eyes. The night before Snoggletog, late in the evening . . . is when I finally asked her to dance."


**Inspired by the song "His Favourite Christmas Story" by Capitol Lights. It's one of my all time favorite Christmas songs and the last time I heard it I was reminded of Hiccup and Astrid for whatever reason. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Hiccup knows he will never forget the girl.

He knows he will never forget the way the reflection of the fire seemed to dance in her sparkling blue eyes. He knows he will never forget her beautiful blond hair, pulled back in a loose braid behind her hair, nor the way her laugh seemed to him like the sound of bells ringing merrily. He will never forget the day he met her, even if it was only for a few moments.

The night before Snoggletog is when he sees her. The stars shine down on the island below, little pinpoints of light in a vast darkness. The sky has never seemed so beautiful. Hiccup had seen the celebration from his boat. Even from far off, rocking on the waves in the dark sea, he can hear the voices and laughter coming from the island. Knowing he has nothing else to do, he turns his boat and begins sailing towards it. He knows that many of the islands in the area have friendly occupants, and his arrival will most likely be greeted with warm welcomes instead of angry yells and several weapons thrown in his direction.

His boat, lovingly called the Night Fury, drifts towards the small island until it brushes up against one of the beaches. Hiccup ties the Night Fury to a rock on the beach and strolls up to the main village. He introduces himself to several people along the way, and as he had expected everyone seems friendly. They don't seem to care too much that he is on their island, and so Hiccup joins the celebrations with joy. It had been a long time since he had last celebrated Snoggletog with others. After leaving his own island at the end of his teenage years, hoping for a life of traveling and adventure, the majority of the time had been spent with just himself and the Night Fury. Not that he minded it, of course. It was much better than it had been when he had been stuck on the island that he had been raised on for years. But sometimes he really did want some company.

Hiccup has been at the island's Snoggletog celebrations for about an hour before he sees her.

A group of Vikings from that island are playing a merry tune in the background, and various people are talking all around him, but everything else seems to freeze when he sees her. Her hair, a rich blonde, is braided behind her head. She is wearing a long, ocean-blue dress that matches her eyes perfectly. She turns her head just slightly and they make eye contact, his green eyes looking into her blue ones. From the very beginning they seem to be drawn to each other.

"Hi," is all he manages to say when she walks up to him.

"Hello," is her response.

For a while they stand in silence, each one thinking of what to say. But once they do think of something to say, they talk on and on. Hiccup tells her of his travels on the Night Fury, of a few of the islands he has visited, and she tells him about her own island, about herself. For a long time they talk.

Hiccup has been on the island for almost two hours before he finally gets the courage to ask the girl to dance.

For a long time they dance together, moving around in a slow dance. Hiccup has never done this before, but he can tell the girl has, and he lets her lead. It seems to Hiccup as if they have only been dancing for a moment when another one of the islanders calls the girl towards her. She and Hiccup exchange goodbyes and then she hurries away, glancing over her shoulder back at him.

It isn't until she has completely disappeared from his sight that Hiccup realizes he doesn't even know her name.

* * *

Several years pass, and Hiccup hasn't seen the girl since. One Snoggletog evening several years later he is sharing a meal with a kind old couple on an island that had graciously let him in. They serve him food and he thanks them, truly grateful for both the meal and the company. They have almost finished eating when the woman asks him to tell them a story. He is slightly surprised by the request, but they have let him into their home and given him a warm meal. He figures the least he can do is spread some more holiday cheer. A smile spreads over his face as he realizes exactly what to tell.

"It was the night before Snoggletog. I met her at an island far from here, several years ago. She was wearing the most beautiful blue dress, which matched her beautiful blue eyes. The night before Snoggletog, late in the evening, is when I finally got the courage to ask her to dance."

* * *

From then on, as he traveled and made stops at different islands, he would tell the islanders stories. Stories of his travels on the Night Fury, stories of adventures and dangers. But as Snoggletog came around each year, he would tell them a different story. The story of his one-time dance partner, the beautiful girl with the blue eyes, the girl with no name. Throughout the archipelago he was known as the "Snoggletog Story-Telling Man".

Years went by, decades went by. Soon Hiccup was in his fifties. His dark brown hair was just beginning to be tinged with gray. But no matter how much time went by, he never forgot the girl. By this time he had pretty much settled down around a group of islands. He was welcome on each of them, and although he still spent most of his time on the trusty Night Fury, he didn't mind staying on the islands. All he had were the children that he told the stories to.

Every Snoggletog night the children on the island, no matter what island he was on, would gather around Hiccup just as the sun was setting to hear the story. Every time he told it exactly the same, and they all had it memorized, but they loved to hear it just the same. "The girl with no name!" they would urge him, beg him. "Tell us the story of the girl with no name!" He would smile and laugh and ruffle their hair, before proceeding to tell the story just like he did every Snoggletog.

"It was the night before Snoggletog. I met her at an island far from here, several years ago. She was wearing the most beautiful blue dress, which matched her beautiful blue eyes. The night before Snoggletog, late in the evening, is when I finally got the courage to ask her to dance."

* * *

Hiccup is dying.

He knew he is. He doesn't need anyone to tell him that. His trusty Night Fury, the boat that had carried him over the oceans for decades, had been shipwrecked against the rocky cliffs of the side of an island. He had only just managed to make it to shore, not without some injuries, before collapsing. When he awoke again, he was lying on a bed in the healer's house on the island.

And all this happened on Snoggletog, too. Not his best holiday, he must admit.

Hiccup is old now. His hair, once a dark reddish-brown, has turned completely gray. His hands are frail and his skin is wrinkled, but his green eyes are still as vivid as ever.

He knows that he had probably been too old to still be out in his boat. He knows that he probably should have settled permanently on an island some years ago. But no matter how much he travels, he is still a Viking, meaning he tends to have some stubbornness issues.

The injuries received from the shipwreck are not bad by themselves. If Hiccup had been younger, he would have been up and walking by the end of the day. But his old age is combining with the injuries, making him weaker and weaker as the minutes pass. He doesn't need to see the sympathetic faces of the healer's helpers or the glances at him as they spoke in whispers to know that he was dying.

But he doesn't mind. He knows he has lived a good, long life. He has seen more places than other Vikings have ever seen. He has been more places, met more people. For decades he had sailed on the Night Fury. But he still hasn't forgotten the girl with no name. For some reason he thinks of her now, as he lays there dying. It had been years and years since that magical night when he had danced with her. He had been young then.

It gets darker and darker inside the healer's hut as the sun goes lower and Snoggletog day comes to an end. The only one left in the room with Hiccup is one of the healer's assistants, an old woman. Her pale gray hair is braided behind her head, and her blue eyes look down sympathetically on him. She is holding his hand, trying to give him comforts in his last moments of life.

It is almost completely dark out when Hiccup speaks. "Can . . . can you tell me a story?" he croaks, a faint smile on his face. "Just to spread some holiday cheer?"

The old woman looks slightly surprised, but then she smiles warmly and begins speaking. Hiccup's eyes fill with tears as she begins talking, because his favorite Snoggletog story is the one that she tells.

"It was the night before Snoggletog. I met him on this island, many years ago. I never caught his name — he traveled all around. The night before Snoggletog, late in the evening . . . I'm so glad he got the courage to ask me to dance."

* * *

Later, when the healer comes back into the room to check on Hiccup, she discovers that he has slipped peacefully into the afterlife with a smile on his face.


End file.
